Exclusive: Ryan Michelle Bathe Talks ‘Sylvie’s Love,’ ‘All Rise’ & ViacomCBS Production Deal

Now playing on Amazon Prime Video is the romantic drama “Sylvie’s Love” starring Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha. The film had its World Premiere at January’s Sundance Film Festival.

Written and directed by Eugene Ashe, the cast includes Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Ryan Michelle Bathe, Regé-Jean Page, Eva Longoria, Aja Naomi King, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jemima Kirke, Alano Miller, MC Lyte, Tone Bell, Erica Gimpel, John Magaro, and Lance Redick.

Set in ’50s and ’60s New York City, the story follows aspiring television producer Sylvie (Thompson) as she meets aspiring saxophonist Robert (Asomugha) when he takes a job at her father’s record store in Harlem. After a summer romance that comes to an end, the two fatefully reconnect several years later and find that their feelings for each other have never disappeared.

For Ryan Michelle Bathe, who plays Tessa’s boss in the film, she’s the ultimate team player who ready to take charge and control of her own destiny. Besides this film, she also has a recurring role on the CBS drama series, ‘All Rise,’ and is coming back to star in the second season of the BET+ series ‘First Wives Club.’ Furthermore, Bathe signed a first-look deal at ViacomCBS, where she will develop and executive produce TV projects for MTV Entertainment Studios, with a focus on emerging talent and underrepresented voices.

BlackFilmandTV.com recently caught up with Bathe as she spoke about her role in Sylvie’s Love, her work in All Rise, and being ready to take on my work with her production deal while still maintaining a household that includes her children and a husband (Sterling K. Brown) who has his share of work that keeps them both busy and productive.

How did this movie come about for you?

Ryan Michele Bathe: I just auditioned, I got a script in my email, and I read it, and I cried. I was like, "I'm going to give this one all I got." Not that I don't give them all I got but I was like, “This is the one." I went to the audition with a sense of just really immense gratitude that somebody had written this film in the first place. I just was so incredibly moved. Game recognized game, brain recognized brain, I don't know, but Eugene and Nnamdi, who's starring in the movie and producing the movie as well, were like, “Yeah, we can do this with her." And I said yes and that's how it happened. 

How would you describe your role as Kate Spencer, Tessa’s Black boss at a TV station?

Ryan Michele Bathe: She was a Black woman in the film, and I knew women like that. I knew women whose grandmothers have been the first administrators in a school district. I knew people whose grandmothers have been the first. They'd work their way up from being secretaries to being Vice President. I knew all of those stories. I used all of that to inform the character, because I wanted her to at least feel like she wasn't everyday breaking barriers. It was like, "No, this is what I do. I wake up every day, and I go to work. One day this story will be told because I'm making a way for someone else.

What makes romantic films work that you like?

Ryan Michele Bathe: It's funny because Eugene (Ashe) always talks about The Way We Were and I finally watched it about five or six years ago and as the movie was over, and I was weeping. It was the worst movie. (Laughs). No one told that that film would end the way that it did. All these people were telling me about this great movie and this movie sucked. I’m kidding of course. I loved the movie. I love it because of what it engendered in people, what it engendered in need.

When I think of particularly in a love story, what you invest in are the characters and when the characters are perfectively drawn and when the characters are so beautifully performed, and showcased, I think that's when you fall in love with each of them. Once you fall in love with the characters, it doesn't matter if it's The Way We Were or The Cutting Edge, which, FYI, also a great movie. Once you fall in love with these characters, and then you can't help but root for them to fall in love with each other, the way you have fallen in love with them.

How was working with Tessa?

Ryan Michele Bathe: You haven't lived until you've worked with Tessa Thompson is all I can say. She makes everything better. She’s smart. She's wise beyond her years. She looks like she's 12 but she has the mind of a Yoda. She's really incredible. I learned a great deal from her.

Besides this film, we get to see you Monday nights on All Rise. How is it having a day job?

Ryan Michelle Bathe: I'm thrilled to be a part of an incredibly groundbreaking show Every single day, Simone (Missick) shows up and does work that is just flawless and beautiful. They tackle issues, and they find the humanity and all of these issues. For me, I'm just grateful. I can't say it any other way. I'm just grateful to be even a small part of what I believe it's such great writing. Every time I step on that set, I'm like, “Wow, y'all know how to do a show.”

Can you talk about shooting your scenes during this pandemic times and COVID restrictions?

Ryan Michelle Bathe: The crew and the production team at All Rise...they were the first people to do a zoom episode, which again, I’m honored to be a part of. And most importantly, they set it in a COVID universe, which I think is really smart about keep everybody safe. Everybody is wearing masks. There's Plexiglass everywhere. The background talent is masked. From head to toe, start to finish, people are wearing their masks. People are keeping their distance even in the show. When there is a need for the mask to be off, you feel incredibly safe because you know that you haven't necessarily been exposed. It's crazy shooting during a pandemic. It's crazy shooting with COVID. It definitely makes you have to draw up on a completely different skill set. But it is worth it because now our industry is the lifeblood of LA in so many ways. There's so many people from top to bottom that are that are able to go back to work, and feed their families and get this economy in Los Angeles moving a little bit. I'm grateful that All Rise is doing it in such a smart, smart way.

Congratulations on your production deal with Viacom. What will that entail?

Ryan Michelle Bathe: I'm just excited to provide a space for underrepresented voices in the space of film and television. I'm putting people in a car with me, I'm driving up off the mountain, I'm making space. I'm just really excited to see the people that have books out there that that have yet to come to light on screen and the stories. It’s going to be really exciting. My interests are sic-fi, classic literature to all of the above. I'm really excited to see what we all come up with.

Is First Wives Club coming back?

Ryan Michelle Bathe: It was picked up for season two. They are all hard at work trying to figure out what season two will look like in the midst of a pandemic that very few people saw coming.

What goes into saying yes to the projects you take when you have a lot going on and being a family person as well?

Ryan Michelle Bathe: That's a really good question. In non pandemic times, I think it was, "If this job takes me outside of Los Angeles, what does that look like for our family?" Obviously, my husband's on a show, where he has to be here. It's not like we're in a situation where it's my turn to work for four months, let's all pack up and go to another town or state. Our lives are very much centered around the kids and what they have to do in their school and their friends and their social lives as well. And now in a pandemic universe we can't just pop back and forth between Vancouver and LA with the greatest disease. I think now it's just like, “How long am I willing to be away from my family, especially during this time, and providing my kids with a sense of security because they're feeling it too." My little one always talks about, “Why can't I do this? Is it because of Corona?" I think the kids have started to talk about cooties a lot more, which if I were five years old, I probably would do as well. I do think it's important for them to have that sense of security. So there's definitely a limit to which I'm willing to be away from them, so that they feel that sense of safety that a mom and a dad can provide.